Part of sticking to our newly revised budget (I did get it done before February! Three hours before midnight totally counts) involves making a menu every Sunday, making a grocery list based on that menu, and then not deviating from either. So far (two days in, I know, I know), it's working: last night I menu-planned, today I went to the store and realized just how often I add things to the cart that aren't on the list... this morning's shopping trip was much less fun than usual. I guess I understand why many people think of grocery shopping as a chore.
And then there's the meals. I'm only planning out suppers; breakfasts are usually hot or cold cereal, occasionally eggs or waffles on the weekends, and lunch is usually leftovers or sandwiches. So I'm making sure we keep basic staples around, and baking bread (rolls, muffins, breadsticks, etc) frequently.
This week's supper menu:
Monday, Feb 2: pork chops with apples, onions & raisins; spelt flour biscuits; green beans
Tuesday, Feb 3: hot chicken-spinach-tomato sandwiches on homemade buns; carrot sticks with ranch dip
Wednesday, Feb 4: sausage veggie egg strata with hash brown potatoes; strawberry-rhubarb compote
Thursday, Feb 5: supper at my parents'
Friday, Feb 6: dill-lemon salmon; steamed broccoli; some kind of crusty bread... not sure if I'll go more with a baguette-style or a big dense wheel of Cuban bread
Saturday, Feb 7: Cincinnati chili over spaghetti; spinach salad
Sunday, Feb 8: bourbon chicken; brown rice; green salad
I do still need to come up with desserts for Friday and Sunday (we're having guests), but I intentionally waited until after today's shopping trip so I'd be forced to be creative with what we have instead of picking up extra ingredients. There's fruit in the freezer, flour in the cupboard... I'll think of something. Somethings. It'll be fun.
There's always a chance "fun" will mean a panicked scouring of Pinterest at 3:30 on Friday, but I'll try not to let it come to that. :-)
Do you have a menu plan for the week? If you'd like to share it, that would be great! I'd love some new ideas for the coming weeks.
I meal plan on Wednesdays and shop on Thursday, so here was last week's plan:
ReplyDeleteThurs: chicken and noodles
Fri: black beans and rice wraps
Sat: dinner with in-laws
Sun: lunchmeat sandwiches
Mon: spaghetti with meat sauce (although we ended up eating leftovers)
Tues: antipasto salad
Wed: roast with carrots and potatoes
How do you season the black bean and rice wraps? I like the idea of beans-and-rice, but every recipe I've tried has been pretty blah.
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